Whether you know it or not, most musicians don't make any money. There are all sorts of nebulous ideas floating around about royalties, ad revenue, streaming revenue, etc., but the reality is nothing like you imagine. Long story short, a musician only makes money if you (a real person) give them (a real person) money. Currently, the only people making money are the investors in pop music (aka people with money working hard for an even bigger return on their investment).
Long story long, marketing music is big business. Your 5/10/15 dollars means jack in the grand scheme if things. What matters is that you use streaming services, see advertising, buy crap you don't need online. Retail is pop music's demographic, and companies desperately need the image and feel of pop to sell chinese t-shirts, thermoses, and gourmet popcorn. All of which is completely fine.
What's not ok is forcing the little guy to compete at that level. You buying my 3 dollar album on bandcamp, excuse my language, is a big fucking deal. The market demographic of the big guys revolves around whether or not Crapco sold more jackets this quarter, but mine is any guy or girl who took 10 minutes out of their day to listen to my music and by strange miracles liked it. The album every two years cycle is a product of big money and logistics, i write something every day.
It's not just me. It's all the little guys. Every new website or platform gets quickly overrun by the big guys to the point that it becomes impossible to find new music that actually excites you. I don't want to sell 100,000 copies and play stuff i don't like to make $37 over the next 6 years. I want to sell 40 or 50 downloads in a month or two and move on to the next thing my brain thinks of.
I'm looking for 20 people who dig what i'm doing and like my sarcastic brand of humor and have 5 bucks they are willing to give me. Sites like kickstarter and patreon are great for people with an already established following, but for most people they are truly more complicated that it's worth. No, i don't want you to pledge 50 cents per "creation" or subscribe to my bullshit. If you don't like my music don't make a big production over it, just say to yourself "i don't like it" and ignore me. I'm the type of person who will talk to you about why it sucks. I may even provide new ways to hate it. Don't feel like you have to give me $200 to make it worth it, but also don't feel like your $2 isn't enough. It's more than enough. It does actually matter.
One last thing. I will actually respond to you. I'll answer your questions, i'll listen to your crap too and tell you what i do and don't like about it. I will interact with you like a person.
Thanks for reading this drivel,
Cheers
